Topic: fluorescence in situ hybridization

With the rapid growth of optical imaging technologies, the simultaneous observation of brain-wide activity and behavior in small organisms offers a unique opportunity to study how distributed neuronal networks interact to process sensory information and generate behavior. While neuromodulators have been shown to grant flexible state-switching mechanisms to circuits, their influence on global network dynamics is poorly characterized. Using resonant-scanning two-photon microscopy, we measured brain-wide calcium dynamics in head-restrained larval zebrafish while monitoring tail movements to inves

The hypothalamic, peptide hormone, oxytocin (OXT), is a powerful modulator of social-, stress- and anxiety-related behaviors, as is the brainstem, neuropeptide relaxin-3 (RLN3). Recent studies indicate the involvement of KCNQ potassium channels in neuronal OXT and RLN3 signaling, with these neuropeptides displaying opposing excitatory and inhibitory actions, respectively. OXT receptors (OXTR) and RLN3 receptors (RXFP3) are expressed by neurons in the rat ventral hippocampal CA3 area (vCA3), which is involved in social behavior and anxiety control; but the possible interaction between OXT and R

Synaptic plasticity is a key process for brain function and memory formation. This depends on the ability of neurons to remodel their synaptic proteomes with high temporal and spatial resolution, promptly delivering and degrading the right proteins at the correct locations. Decades of work have shown that local protein synthesis at synapses is one of the mechanisms that enables remodeling of the local proteome. In vitro and ex vivo studies, mainly focusing on the hippocampus, have shown that neurons locally translate thousands of mRNAs, and that this process is required for several forms of lo